Coin processing machines are used both in the financial industry to sort, count, and/or package coins and in the retail sector as a publicly-accessible redemption machine to exchange loose change for a ticket or voucher.
In some conventional coin processing machines, each of a plurality of valid coin denominations are separated from the remaining denominations and stored in a receptacle specific to that denomination. A disadvantage to this approach is that as soon as a receptacle for a single denomination becomes full, the entire machine must be shut down until the receptacle can be changed. To mitigate this disadvantage, some machines permit the assignment of an additional bag to a commonly received denomination. However, in many instances, the exact mix of coins received over any given period of time cannot be accurately predicted and this does not cure the spatial limitations associated with this type of coin processing machine.
In some other conventional coin processing machines, the sorted coins are collected in a large bulk coin bin. Although the large bulk coin bin maximizes the availability of the coin processing machine from the perspective of having sufficient available volume to output the processed coins, the use of large bulk coin bins brings with it its own disadvantages. The large bulk coin bins weigh hundreds of pounds when full and require specialized equipment, such as a truck with a lift gate, and collection services, each of which adds to the cost and maintenance of the coin processing machine.
Still another conventional processing machine utilizes up to six coin bags of mixed coins. One example of this is the Magner Coinstream® Model No. CDS 524, which permits 6 or bags of coins. The DeLaRue CDS3010 also claims to provide up to four bagging attachments in lieu of a bin. However, these approaches, although seeking to address some of the issues noted above, have not found support in the marketplace and fails to provide a capacity approaching that of a bin.
A need exists for improved coin processing and management systems avoiding the above-described problems.